You must pay Inheritance Tax by the end of the sixth month after the person died.
Example If the person died in January, you must pay Inheritance Tax by 31 July.
There are different due dates if you’re making payments on a trust.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will charge you interest if you don’t pay by the due date.
How to pay
You’ll need to get a reference number before you can pay your Inheritance Tax bill.
You can pay Inheritance Tax from:
- your own bank account
- a joint bank account if you held one in joint names with the deceased
- accounts owned by the deceased
- government savings and investments owned by the deceased - ie National Savings and Investments (NS&I) and government stock
If you pay it from your own bank account, you can claim the money back from the deceased’s estate or the beneficiaries once you get a ‘grant of representation’ (also known as ‘probate’). This is called ‘confirmation’ in Scotland.
If you don’t know how much to pay
You can make payments before you know the exact amount of Inheritance Tax owed by the deceased person’s estate. These are known as ‘payments on account’.
Check your payment has been received
HMRC don’t send receipts for each payment you make. They’ll write to tell you when you’ve paid all the Inheritance Tax and interest you owe.
If you’ve paid through your own bank or building society, check your statement to confirm the payment has left your account.